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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
The University of Southern California cancels its Muslim
valedictorian’s commencement speech, citing safety concerns
By Alisha Ebrahimji and Melissa Alonso, CNN
Updated:
1:49 AM EDT, Wed April 17, 2024
Source: CNN
What was supposed to be a time of celebration for Asna Tabassum – the
University of Southern California’s 2024 valedictorian – has turned
to disappointment after the university denied her the chance to give a
speech at commencement over security concerns.
“Over the past several days, discussion relating to the selection of
our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor,” USC Provost Andrew
Guzman said in an . “The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social
media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include
many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating
substantial risks relating to security and disruption at
commencement.”
Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, would have
delivered her speech at the graduation ceremony on May 10.
It’s an honor Tabassum is no stranger to: She was named valedictorian
of her high school in May 2020 but due to the pandemic, she never got
to deliver a speech, she told CNN on Tuesday.
And it’s an accolade Tabassum calls “an honor of a lifetime,” one
her parents consider “a report card,” “evidence of their tireless
work, love, support and the values and the characteristics that
they’ve instilled in me for 21 years.”
“I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that
the University is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my
voice,” Tabassum said in an she released via the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles. “I am not surprised by
those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own
university – my home for four years – has abandoned me.”
As rage on, has yielded a dire humanitarian crisis while stoking angst
across the world as supporters of Israel and Palestinians advocate and
, many in support of a ceasefire.
The change to USC’s commencement program only affects plans for a
student speech, Lauren Bartlett, the university’s associate vice
president for strategic and crisis communications, told CNN.
Bartlett declined to say what security concerns drove the school’s
decision, saying, “In the interest of safety and security, we don’t
disclose specific threats around the assessment.”
For her part, Tabassum harbors “serious doubts about whether USC’s
decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis
of safety,” she said in the .
The doubts linger “because I am not aware of any specific threats
against me or the university, because my request for the details
underlying the university’s threat assessment has been denied, and
because I am not being provided any increased safety to be able to
speak at commencement,” Tabassum said.
When asked whether Tabassum will still be permitted to participate in
the graduation ceremony and what security measures were in place to
secure her safety, Bartlett said she didn’t have that information. A
Chino Hills, California native, Tabassum biomedical engineering with a
minor in resistance to genocide and an interest in global health care
equity.
USC student advocacy group Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of
her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial
ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of
Israel, it wrote in a social media post.
Tabassum said , which she said details “what’s happening in
Palestine, and how to help,” three years ago as part of her
commitment to stand up for human rights.
Tabassum told CNN’s Abby Phillip Tuesday night that “the hate and
the vitriol that was unleashed towards me after, I think, was part of
the reason that the university caved in.”
“My goal when putting this link in my bio is to inform and in the
spirit of academic discourse. I think people need to be informed,
people ultimately can make their own decisions,” she told CNN.
“I don’t think, for example, my minor in resistance to genocide, or
this link, should actually be looked in the confines or in the vacuum
of the events after October 7th,” Tabassum said. “This is something
that I have always stood for. And this is something that USC has taught
me to stand for in terms of human rights.”
Yet Tabassum says those views “were stifled and were subject
to hate.”
CNN has reached out to Trojans for Israel for comment.
“To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of
speech,” said the provost, Guzman. “There is no free-speech
entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to
maintain campus security and safety, period.”
“While this is disappointing,” he noted, “tradition must give way
to safety.”
But instead of canceling Tabassum’s speech, the university should
take more steps to secure a safe graduation environment, said Hussam
Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in Los Angeles.
“Even though USC has maintained Asna’s position as valedictorian,
the cowardly decision to cancel her speech empowers voices of hate and
censorship, violates USC’s obligation to protect its students and
sends a terrible signal to both Muslim students at USC and all students
who dare to express support for Palestinian humanity,” Ayloush said
in an online statement.
“My commitment to human rights and my commitment to equal
treatment should not be signified as - or not be manipulated
into - an expression of disunity,” Tabassum said.
Bartlett also did not have information about whether the school
considered letting Tabassum share her speech before or after the
graduation ceremony, she said.
Although Tabassum said she had not started working on the speech, she
said it would have been “a message of hope.”
“I would implore my peers to reconsider and to consider
the ways in which their education can allow them and offer
them the responsibility to look at matters of the world and
take them into their own lens, make their own decisions,”
Tabassum told CNN.
While Tabassum is concerned in the short term for her and her
family’s safety if they attend graduation, she says she isn’t
considering a Plan B.
“That is my commitment and that is my due diligence towards the
communities that see me as a symbol for their community,” she said.
“And see me as a literal voice – and there’s the irony again –
there as literal voice to be represented on a podium at such a
level.”
Tabassum said she’s still hoping the university has a change of heart
and reinstates her speaking privileges.
“That’s the only hope that I can hope for,” she said.
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